2008 BRITISH RIDERS OF THE YEAR NO. 15

Throughout December we will be revealing Cycling Weekly‘s top 50 British riders of the year.

We will be revealing the final top ten in this year’s list of top 50 British Riders in the December 25 issue of Cycling Weekly magazine.

NO. 15: SHANAZE READE

Shanaze Reade was one of the hottest favourites to win gold at the Olympics in Beijing. It was almost taken as read that she would win the women?s BMX crown.

She had, after all, dominated the sport for the past two years, and was unstoppable in the World Championships final a few months earlier.

Part of Reade?s appeal is her all-or-nothing style, and no one, least of all her, would have changed her approach. She wanted to win gold, or go down in a blaze of glory trying. For her, silver was not an option.

She crashed in the first qualifying run but regained her composure to set the second fastest time in her next run. She crashed again in the semi-final but accumulated enough points in the three heats to make the final.

Well-placed to make her move in the final, she suddenly found her front wheel the wrong side of Anne-Caroline Chausson?s back wheel and went down again on the final berm.

So, the Olympics eluded her, but that does not detract from the fact that she had a superb year.

World champion in two different events, the BMX and the team sprint on the track, which she won in Manchester with Victoria Pendleton, proves she is one of the most versatile women sprinters in the world. The only question now is in which direction she chooses to take her career between now and London 2012.

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